A key requirement for next generation of mobile networks is flexibility to support multiple use cases with different network requirements.
Software Defined Networking (SDN) has been proposed for enabling a solution without the need for centralized user plane nodes and with a strict division between control plane and user plane.
FIG. 1 illustrates an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network architecture being the core network in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system. A mobile device 10, such as a mobile phone, tablet, smart watch, etc., is referred to as a User Equipment (UE) and connects to a Base Station (BS) residing in an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 11. In EPC terminology, the BS is called evolved Node B (eNB). The BS is connected to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 12 which handles signalling related to mobility for E-UTRAN access, such as e.g. tracking and paging of the UE 10. In particular, the MME 12 controls the setup and maintenance of GTP (“General Packet Radio Service Tunnelling Protocol”) user plane tunnels between the BS and a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) 14 via a Serving Gateway (S-GW) 13. The P-GW 14 acts as a global mobility anchor point towards IP networks 15 and includes functions like Quality-of-Service (QoS) handling and charging support. The S-GW 13 acts as a local mobility anchor point and includes functions like idle-mode buffering. Policy and charging is governed from a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 16. A Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 17 is the prime database for subscription-related information.
A problem in the art is that whereas EPC can be seen as a one-size-fits-all network mainly optimized for mobile broadband, a 5G core network must be able to support many diverse use cases.